Non‐Linear Temperature—Band Gap Variation in Small‐Gap Semiconductors and Semimetals

Abstract A model is proposed to determine the high‐temperature band gap for small‐gap or semimetal II–VI compounds as Hg 1‐x Cd x Te or Hgi 1‐x Cd x Se, from an analysis of Hall data. It is shown that there exists a non‐linear band gap‐temperature dependence for a given Cd concentration. A variation law valid for 0 < x < 1 is proposed. This law is checked for a lot of samples, and it is demonstrated that there exists a very good agreement with experimental results even near the semimetal‐semiconductor transition.